The Immortal Hero
by QuirkQuartz
Summary: Izuku Midoriya may not have a Quirk, but he does possess something unique - He's an immortal Ajin, incapable of death. Even rarer, he's a Variant, one only three cases. Orphaned at thirteen, he joins the Ajin League of Villains with nowhere else to go. He reappears two years later, with only three goals - Get into Yuuei, Become a Hero, and Eradicate the Ajin League of Villains.
1. Izuku Midoriya - The Immortal Ajin

**I want to warn everyone right now, ahead of time – This story is dark. Very dark. In this prologue alone, I have references to death, literal death, suicide, and suicidal thinking. If this sort of thing upsets and concerns you, I recommend either reading with caution, or not at all. Just wanted to warn those of you this kind of content might affect.**

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He hadn't meant to do it.

Wide eyes captured every single detail about the scene in front of him, even though he didn't want to, or even comprehend what he was seeing. Simply, he just stared, absently. Nothing that was currently in front of him was even registering though, at least, not in the way that it should do. Shouldn't he be horrified? Terrified? Sick to his very core? None of that was there. He hurt, but not for them. He felt guilt, like it had hit him over the head with a ton of bricks, but for the most part, he just didn't fee' anything else like that. A huge part of him just didn't want to acknowledge everything before him, just wanted to pretend that it didn't exist, and flee, to somewhere else. To act like none of this had ever happened…

Because he knew it was all his fault.

It had been an accident…

The flames from the apartment that he used to call home lit up the alleyway, making everything tinted in an orange and red afterglow. That was also his fault. Everything was crystal clear, even though it was the dead of night. No illusions or Quirks were hiding the truth here, no matter how much he wanted them to be some trick of the eye, of effect of some sort of Quirk. Everything was on display.

Four dead, savagely torn apart and beaten bloody corpses, were on display for anyone to see.

Limbs were scattered randomly and haphazardly, making it impossible to tell what belonged to whole, with the exception of one person, whom had blue skin as opposed to the normal pigments. One person had a tail, also ripped and tossed against a wall, a splatter of inhumanly green coloured blood indicating where it had hit, and a smear where it had slid down, before hitting the ground. Hands reached up from the seas of ruby red fluid, like a person was struggling for air underneath the surface, drowning seconds before oxygen was returned to their lungs. The other corpses almost look to be little more than flesh, yellow bones jutting out of said flesh, and their metallic weapons, left untouched by 'His' strike. One person, an individual whom had six arms, laid with one of their hands resting above the trigger. A few seconds too short of actually firing the automatic rifle and unloading it into the young boy.

Not that it would have done anything to stop him, or even save the users life. The moment that they had tried to take the life of such a child had been the second they had willingly stepped into their own graveyards, unknowingly as it may be. Their target himself didn't even mean for it to go down like this…

These were four people, who had lives and people who had cared about them. No matter what they were, or what they had tried to do to him, they were still people…. Who had had their own lives to live. They were all sons. Some might have been fathers, brothers, and all were bound to have friends who would miss them, and mourn them. Everyone had someone… At least, most people did…

Now laying as lifeless corpses, right in front of him, their blood literally on his hands, across his face, and soaking into what little remained of his charred clothing, these people had left the people that cared for them behind. And it was his fault.

It was his fault that these people were dead.

He hadn't meant to do it… It had been an accident. He didn't…

"I didn't… I didn't…."

He quietly repeated to himself, hoping that somehow, in some way, he silent whispers would be heard. That somehow, it would make everything better, that everything would just disappear. That he'd wake up in his room, covered with posters of Heroes, and that he could then run and cry about his horrific nightmare to his mother, who would offer him comfort and support. That he could go back to school in the morning, and be bullied for not having a Quirk. That he could go back to pining after the ones he admired, and feel the heartbreak when he would eventually learn that not everyone could become a Hero. It had better than this…

Anything had to be better than this.

Sniffling, he turned his head to look up at the apartment. The crackling of wood breaking apart, and the flapping noise as wind combated the flames and said flames fought back, made the boy know that he wasn't in a dream. There was no hope of that anymore. Everything was encased in an ever glowing, every hungry fire, that wasn't going to die until it had consumed everything that it could, or was mowed down by either the fire department, or someone with a water Quirk.

Waking up in bed wasn't going to happen anymore.

Receiving comfort from his mother wasn't going to happen anymore.

Going to school and getting bullied wasn't something that he could have anymore.

His life was…. It would never be the same again.

Nowhere to go…. Nowhere to hide… No one to speak up for him… No one to look after him… No one to even say that they were sorry for him and his situation. There was nothing left anymore.

The fire had taken home from him… Had ripped his mother from him, and taken her to the endless beyond… And he was supposed to be dead as well. Nature dictated that he was supposed to be dead…. But he wasn't.

He was alive. And somehow, that was worse.

Death… That would be easier. So much easier… Easier than living in this world. Easier than living when his home was destroyed. Easier than living now that his mother was dead… Easier than living in a world that was destined to despise him. It would have been easier to die…

Than to be what he was.

Shaking and shivering, he brought his hands into his field of vision. Cuts, wounds and burns, all gone, like they had never been there to begin with. The only evidence to show they were there was the blood that was atop his skin, and the fact that he knew that there were supposed to be wounds there. It was the first time that he truly accepted and knew what he was….

A freak of nature, even in this super powered society. Bad enough that he had been born Quirkless...

Finally, though they had been held back by the shock and trauma that ears came when he realized that he couldn't even commit suicide. That he couldn't even die. The universe seemed to just hate him, so much, that it wouldn't just let him end his miserable and empty existence… Everyone who loved him was gone, and he was now a freak in this world in as many ways possible…

Why?... Why was this happening to him?

Why him?

Why his family, when they had done absolutely nothing wrong...

"Mom…" He couldn't even find the words to describe his grief in the moment…

Why his dreams, when everyone else was free to follow theirs?

"All Might…." His all-time favourite Hero… The Hero who was supposed to show up to save everyone who needed him… He wasn't here.

Just…

"Why?..."

Salt water from his eyes dripped down his cheeks and ran over the blood of the other individuals, possibly with some of his own mixed in there as well. So much crimson had blended together that he didn't even know how much of it was his, and how much of it belonged to the people in front of him. His tears didn't care though, and just ran over it all, not discriminating what liquid it would fall over. Streaks of red trailed down with the blood, smearing down his cheeks and down to his chin.

All the strength in the thirteen year olds legs left immediately one the first tears began to fall. He stumbled backwards, hitting a wall within a couple of steps. For a moment, he just stopped there, and stared right back into a set of lifeless blue eyes, belonging to a corpse barely ten feet away from him. Eyes that were void of emotion. Void of feeling. Void of anything that made someone a person. Now they were just a pile of flesh and water.

Void of life.

He hadn't…. It was…

Falling down onto the ground, he began to cry, openly sobbing. His mind was simply unable to comprehend why. He hadn't done anything bad, right? He wasn't a bad person, right? He always had tried to do the right thing, to live by the ways a Hero would have said to live by. To help people and be good to those around him. He wasn't a bad person… He'd always wanted to be a Hero, he wasn't a bad person…

So why…. Why had this had to happen to him?... To those he loved and cared for? To those who hadn't done anything wrong? To people who had nothing to do with what he was? Why had this happened to him, when he hadn't even dreamed about hurting anyone else? Nothing about it was fair. It was all just…

Heroes were supposed to prevent this from happening…. But there were none to be found. Not a single Hero was here to help him. None of them had stopped what had happened, and none of them were here, even now, to help prevent it from getting worse….

Not that it could get any worse…

Through his sobs, he managed to choke out, like a silent prayer, "I…. I…. I need…. Please…. I need a Hero to help me…."

"No Hero is coming to save you."

For a moment, the tears stopped falling, and hung in the boy's eyes, as he looked up and down the alleyway. When this person had arrived, he had no clue, but in front of him now stood someone, maybe four or five years older than he was, wrapped up in black clothing, including a hoodie that prevented anyone from seeing the majority of his facial features were they to look at him from any other angle. For the boy, seeing strands of blue hair, a set of red eyes, and wrinkled skin surrounding the only piercing iris, was easy, since he was looking up, while the man before him was looking down.

What was more intimidating about this man was the fact there was a disembodied hand covering up the majority of his face, and his right eye were peering between the fingers of the index and middle. There was to be no doubt – This person was terrifying, by appearance alone….

But the green and black haired boy just couldn't be bothered to run anymore. Part of him had just ceased to care. Another part of it was that he felt his body was paralyzed. None of his muscles would respond to any of the commands his brain sent out. It wasn't from injury, or Quirk effects. He was just frozen in place, like a deer caught in the headlights.

That moment was filled with nothing but silence, as both inspected one another, to see if they would make some sort of move, to escape or to attack, though nothing came about it. Instead, nothing happened between them. No words, not changes in expression, no motion, nothing. It was just twenty seconds of them looking at one another, the boy still in tears, while the man just seemed to assess what was in front of him. When he finally did move, it was simply to glance around the area once again.

And for his eyes to snap towards Izuku's hand.

Black bubbles accompanied by that same insect-like static noise came from the boy's left hand – Something that the man took note of. It seemed to be something that had interested him greatly, and now that it was there, it seemed to confirm what he had been thinking.

It was the same effect that occurred during his own regeneration.

"So, you're a Variant. The rumours were true. You have a code that lets you generate your Ghost after all."

"G-Ghost? Y-You can see them too?!" The boy was stunned.

There were others who could see the Ghosts?

"Anyone who's like us can see the black Ghosts. I can see them, you can, and so can everyone else that is just like us. But you're able to make them. It's something only three recorded cases can actually make. It's an ability that no Human can replicate, even with their Quirks. Even those of us who don't have Ghosts can see them, and we can't replicate them with our Quirks."

The boy looked at this person, still with eyes diluted with tears. Others like him….

Others like them…

"You…. You mean you're…"

"Just like you. I'm an Ajin."

Red eyes left the boy, and instead fell towards the pockets within the hoodie that the male was wearing. One hand entered that, while another removed the hood from atop his head, while being careful not to allow his small finger to touch said hood, for reasons that the teenager boy didn't understand quite yet. Wavy blue hair was revealed.

And from the pockets, a switchblade knife was revealed, black at the handle, and sharpened red at the blade.

Without a single word, or without any cause or reason to do so, the male brought the switchblade right up against his jugular vein in his neck.

The scariest thing about seeing this was the lack of any expression change on the man's face. There was no hesitation, no fear, or even much care in what he was doing. He didn't even think twice about what he was doing.

"W-Wait – ! "

The next noises to be heard were those of a slice, and then a blood splatter.

He just tore the blade, slicing open his jugular, and everything in-between it, from right to left, tearing open every single vein that he had in the front of his neck, and through his throat. Death was practically instant, his body became limp, and his lifeless corpse fell straight to the floor. Motionless, red fluid leaking from the large, gaping slash to the neck.

Another corpse to add to the pile…

Only to suddenly reanimate, immediately afterwards.

As insect-like static noises began, and black matter oozed out of the man's neck, he began to jerk back to life. He had fallen face first down into the concrete, and began the process of picking himself off of the stony ground, like nothing had happened at all. His own blood had soaked into his jacket, and was running down his neck, but it didn't seem to bother him.

When he had fallen, however, the hand that was secured around his face had fallen off. Now, as he rose up again, he held it in his hand, and placed it within the pocket in his jacket. He turned to face the young boy, who was now staring in wide eyed shock. The suicide, that was one thing, and that was its whole other set of trauma that he was going to need to deal with… But considering how he himself had just died, it wasn't the first thought that entered his face.

What shocked him the most right now was the fact….

The fact that he knew this man.

"Y-You're – "

"This world isn't going to protect us." The recently revived male said, wiping his bloody blade against his sleeve, and then flipping the switchblade back into its holder and shoving it back into his pocket along with the disembodied hand. "And there are bosses and enemies everywhere that you can't trust. In this world, if you trust the wrong people, it's almost an instant game over, even if you can't die. That's why I killed myself, to prove that I'm an Ajin, just like you are. The only people we can trust are other Ajin, like us."

"H-How did you…" The boy was shivering at what he had just witnessed, his eyes wider than ever before in barely concealed terror. Right now, the suicide itself wasn't messing with him, as much as the fact that he had seen it done so… Easily. This man, and the way he ended his own life was just haunting to him, even though he now knew who this person was… "So easily… H-How?..."

"I've died so many times that it doesn't affect me. I always have an extra life, so death doesn't scare me. And it shouldn't you." A brief pause. "How many times have you died already?"

"…T-Twice…"

"So you're new to immortality..." The blue haired male ran his hand through his hair, while with his other hand, he began to scratch his neck, with a worrying amount of force. A number of scars had been present before the man had killed himself, now completely gone as the regeneration of his immortality had healed him of all physical ailments.

It was true though. Death was supposed to be the final end to a life. It was supposed to be when everything ended, and the cells and matter that made up the body were returned to the earth to form into other things. What made up a person was returned into the world, to make something new.

Ajin bypassed that rule. Death wasn't the end for them. As was just displayed, they could heal from any injury that would be fatal, once they themselves had actually died. What was interesting to note was that the wounds that the boy had suffered had healed up, as were the scars on the blue haired individual's neck. When they died, those wounds healed up. Only death would heal an injury, it appeared

No wonder the world feared them so much… No wonder people hated them. No wonder the government wanted them all registered. To Humans, Ajin were dangerous creatures, filled with abilities and powers that just couldn't be matched. How did you defeat someone who couldn't die? How did you stop someone when the threat of death no longer held any meaning to them?

How did you stop immortals… Such as…

"You…. You're Tomura Shigaraki, aren't you?..." The boy questioned, already fully aware of the answer. "You're the first Ajin that was discovered in Japan… At least, the first revealed to the public..."

"And you're Izuku Midoriya – And if you stay here, you'll be known as the third discovered in the country." When the boy looked surprised at the other Ajin knowing him name, he explained further. "I've been following you since I heard the rumours. I wanted to know if they were true."

Izuku felt his throat constrict. He had been aware of these rumours, since the day that he had died and come back to life for the first time. Rumours that he wasn't a Human being, ever since the incident that had killed him, and instead made those around him believe he was an immortal creature. He'd wanted to deny it, but now it turned out, they had been right all along. Of course, no one had any proof – The only way to prove that someone was an immortal would be to kill him, something no one was willing to risk - But it had impacted his life since. They had been impossible to avoid. Suspected of being a creature that wasn't even Human…

In a way, he had already been living like an Ajin. No one trusted anyone who was suspected of being an Ajin. All it took was a rumour to completely ruin someone's life…

Before any more words could be exchanged between the two of them, a black mist suddenly seemed to appear behind Shigaraki, forming out of nowhere, into a clockwise-spinning spiral of nearly pitch-black fog. It was the effects of some kind of Quirk, of that there wasn't any doubt in Izuku's mind. This wasn't some kind of Ajin ability – those looked different, from what he'd seen of his own.

Confirmation came seconds later, when a deep, ominous voice appeared to emanate from the intangible mist itself. "Tomura Shigaraki, there are several Humans converging on this location. I believe that they are searching for where the boy landed. When they see these corpses, no doubt they'll accurately pin the blame on the child, if he remains here."

A set of heavy breathing began to make itself heard from the teenage child, his eyes having fallen once again back onto the round, his fingers gripping tightly onto his legs, nails digging into his exposed skin. A drop of rain suddenly hit his head, and within a few moments, the entire area was in a downpour, soaking everyone present within a matter of seconds. There was no doubt that Izuku was responsible for the deaths of these four people, and that when others found him surrounded by corpses, they would turn him into the authorities.

Once they had made sure that he was immortal, by killing him.

The unbearable pain of being killed…

"Haaah… Haaah…." He trembled.

What exactly would happen to him when he was taken into protective custody? Horror stories about Ajin treatment by the one who had escaped from that supposed hell were the stuff of nightmares. Stories perpetrated by….

Well, the ones who had become famous for blowing the whistle on the torturous acts against Ajin were stood right in front of him. Tomura Shigaraki had been the one to reveal to downright injustice and illegal behaviour of the police and the Heroes in that sort of facility. News Izuku had never wanted to believe…

And now, he looked to be facing the punishment for his wilful ignorance.

"If you stay here, you'll be tortured by the Humans, who will want to learn just how immortal you really are." Shigaraki stated, like he was reading Izuku's mind. His arms opened wide, like he were presenting something to the entire world. "The Humans will take life after life from you, for no other reason than to test all of their equipment on a living target. For no other reason than to push the limits of Ajin immortality. If you stay here, you'll become a slave to death, and to the desires of the Human race. You'll have your life taken from you, and spend however much time you have until you die as a testing dummy.

"Haah… Haaah… Haaah…." At this point, the green haired boy had developed from trembling into outright shaking, the mere idea of being subjected to that sort of treatment shaking him to his very core, and making him want to throw up. He was terrified.

There wasn't any other way to put it. He was so scared that he couldn't even begin to process it. He couldn't control his breathing, and his hands now gripped around his chest. He felt like he was suffocating -

"Or, you can come with us."

In that moment though, the shaking stopped.

"Ajin are far higher in number than the media has reported." The black mist informed Izuku, a set of two glowing yellow eyes without irises or pupils forming from the fog. "Many other immortals reside with us, all rejected from society, and looking for acceptance within a world that has nothing but disdain for our kind."

"You can stay here, and you can die. Over and over again." The blue haired man stated, before opening his arms wide, like he were presenting the spinning black fog that stood behind him, continuing to turn independent of his will. "Or you can come with us, and join our struggle for Human rights. You can meet other Ajin, and you can be safe from the discrimination that you're destined to suffer at the hands of mortals, or you can learn to use your Variant powers to help those who are like you."

A silent gust of wind took all of the air that was in the recently homeless boy's throat.

"And to make the Humans who did this to you suffer."

He blinked, several times, hard. He knew what this person was, even with the exclusion of his status as an Ajin. He had watched the news, and seen the things that this man in particular had done. The corpses that appeared wherever he was in a location, and the things that happened whenever he was around. He knew what Tomura Shigaraki was…

Who he was with.

And what thy did…

But without anywhere to go… What chance did he have in the world? What chance did an Ajin have in this world? Humans were known to be afraid of Ajin, and never had one ben discovered that the government hadn't immediately put into protective custody…

And here was Tomura Shigaraki, the first ever discovered Ajin in Japan, and the first one to escape that protective custody, the one who had shone a light on the horrors that went on in those 'Safe Havens.' The person who showed just what an Ajin could expect in that sort of hell…

That and… Where else did he have to go? What other options did he have? Shigaraki claimed to understand the Ghosts, and what they were, and what it was that Izuku himself was capable of. The four dead behind the elder male would haunt the green haired boy. He knew that they were going to be within his nightmares until the day he died… Because he couldn't control this… Variant power, whatever it was.

When it came to learning exactly what he was…. Was he in a position to be picky?...

No, he wasn't.

For the final time that night, Izuku's blood red eyes shot a final, mournful look at the home he had lived in his whole life, still ablaze in spite of the rain, and then nodded at the other two Ajin to show he would follow them, taking a step into the mist that would take him away to whatever location the two of them had in mind for him.

Towards the League Of Ajin.

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 **I've been hinting at this for a while now – So here it is.**

 **I want to warn you all though, that this is a story I'll be updating at leisure – With Uni, and my other works, It's a case of, I'll update this story whenever I can, and that could be tomorrow, next week, two months, who knows? Just to warn you guys as well, this is the first crossover thing I've written, so it might be a little rough around the edges – They'll be ironed out over time.**

 **No doubt those of you who have watched Ajin get what's going on – Those of you who haven't – Go watch it, it's great. I'll elaborate more on Ajin place in this world in later chapters. It's gonna be fun.**

 **This story was made possible by the people who support me on Pat reon – so thank you to them. If you** _ **want**_ **to help support my work and ability to keep writing – Emphasis on WANT to – Then please consider supporting me on QuirkQuartz Pat Reon. More details there. Again, only if you WANT to support me and my work.**

 **Thank you so much for reading, and I'll see you next time!**


	2. A New Yuuei

**ITS BACK.**

 **I told you I wasn't abandoning it – But this entire chapter has been rewritten. I explain why at the end, but I think the narrative here is much, much better for the story, and feels less forced. I can only hope that you guys think so as well. I'll be sure to explain my thinking at the end – Until then, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

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Beginning a new school year in the middle of April always had a feeling of change about it. Winter had thawed, and the sun finally began to reappear throughout the sky that had been covered for month with snow and rain clouds, lowering the temperature as they floated high above both the people and the buildings. Now the days were getting warmer and longer, and school uniforms began to appear within the streets, students making their way back to school. To many, this would be where the new year truly began.

Walking through the streets, one would see the tell-tale signs of spring everywhere in the people that made their way throughout the concrete jungles, going to work and to school. Middle schoolers wore the traditional uniforms, the black Gakuran for the boys, and the sailor uniform for the girls. Many uniforms were adjusted and altered, designed to better suit the wearers Quirks, some with extra sleeves, a separate pouch for tails, or various special materials.

For the high schoolers though, it became more exciting.

Especially for those who were in Mina's position.

She ran a finger over the bottom rim of her skirt again, checking once again that it was long enough. The navy blue contrasted against her pink skin colour, as did the greys that made up the jacket she wore, and it felt like it made her stand out more that she had done in middle school, where the white and light blue didn't stand out too starkly. Not this starkly at least. Still, her new uniform was surprisingly snug and comfortable. She saw people staring at her, and she knew it was because of her uniform. And just seeing her reflection in the windows and mirrors scattered throughout the city made her feel like she looked smarter. It filled her with pride.

This year, she started her year at Yuuei High, as a member of the Hero Course. It had been the result of many, many, many painful hours of studying at a desk to get her grades up, and training with her Acid Quirk to the point of causing herself pain. She had pushed herself as much as she could, and her efforts had been rewarded.

Here she stood now, among other students who were supposed to be the best of the best in the country. Her class for the next year at the minim, and three at the maximum, assuming that they weren't mixed up in the upcoming years. People from all over the country, all so drastically different from one another just from a mere glance. Quirks that she had yet to see, and people she had yet to get to know. The only exception was that of Kirishima, sporting his new look to the point she hardly recognized him. Everyone else was a complete unknown though. Unknown Quirks, unknown people, and with any luck, unknown friends.

Everyone here wanted to be a Hero. They had all worked as hard as they could to get here, and she could already feel herself bubbling over with the excitement that always came with the first day of a new year. Possibilities, goals, and countless hang-out chances were all just about the begin.

Once the final few members of new class arrived.

"Hey."

Mina looked up to see Kirishima looking down at her, holding out his phone for her to look at the screen. His eyes glanced to it, indicating that he wanted her to look towards it. She glanced at him, and then at the phone.

It was a news article, apparently uploaded the previous night as a breaking news story at the time. In her rush to get to her new school, Mina hadn't bothered to check the news on the TV, or on her phone or anything. The article headline was all she needed to read. It summed up the situation quickly and simply.

' _Ajin attack leaves seven dead in North-west Hosu.'_

Brief scans over the article seemed to pin the blame on an explosion in the middle of a warehouse district of the city, and that the well-known Villain group calling themselves the 'League Of Ajin' taking credit for the attack. At this point, Mina wasn't even surprised by the news, nor could she call it a tragedy like she normally would. There wasn't anything tragic about the mundane routine of it all. How part of everyday life it had ended up being. This sort of thing happened all the time now. Random attacks that seemed to make sense only the League themselves.

Ajin – The exceptionally rare immortal species that were impervious to death. Their existence had been confirmed over forty years ago, yet less than a hundred cases were confirmed to exist worldwide. IF there was one thing that people knew about Ajin though, it was that they were dangerous.

Incredibly dangerous.

How did you fight back against something that was entirely immortal? What was there to even do against a race that didn't die, and didn't need to worry about the risk of death? Not only that, Ajin were ruthless and homicidal. Many seemed to fight and kill merely for some sort of distraction or for fun. The absolute motives behind what the Ajin wanted were unclear – and they seemed to have no intention to say what they wanted. Not yet at least.

It made them all the more terrifying. What could they do to predict their movements? Attacks seemed sporadic and random, almost like they were just lashing out as anyone that wasn't an Ajin. And there was no way of stopping them. Every time they appeared, they were gone just as fast. Some suspected it to be the work of a Warping Quirk of some kind. They could show up anywhere, attack anyone, and leave just as fast.

No one in the country was unafraid of the Ajin. How couldn't they be?

There wasn't even a way to permanently counter them, at least, not one that Mina could see.

This was going to be something Yuuei taught them.

All she could do was sigh. "Another one?"

Shovelling his phone back into his uniforms pocket, Kirishima seemed to let out a sigh as well. "Yuuei's supposed to teach us how to fight Ajin, right?"

"I'd guess so…" With the rise in attacks by the Villain Ajin group, and the uncertain nature of Ajin, they would have to be prepared in case they chanced on one of the immortals.

Ajin were of course rare, and sometimes Mina doubted that they even existed. The concept of immortality was one that just seemed absurd to even consider. It would be one thing if it was some sort of Quirk – Although even then, a Quirk like that would be absurdly strong, and could even break biology – But it wasn't. Ajin were reported to possess Quirks in addition to their immortality, so it wasn't like they were all related and shared a common Quirk.

So multiple people had gained the power of immortality, with no relation to one another, and all possessed their own superpowers. This distinction was why Ajin weren't even Human anymore. They were something else.

And along the way, they had lost their souls. How could something that couldn't die value life?

Evidentially, by the Ajin Leagues actions, they didn't.

There was a certain level of paranoia present in the classroom, though it wasn't so thick that it was unerodable. Generally, people had to be weary of one another in this world until they knew that they could trust one another.

Anyone could be an Ajin.

Anyone could be an Ajin and not even realize it themselves.

After all, the only way to know if someone was an Ajin was to see if they came back after dying.

To her left, she heard the yelling of a student who reminded her more of a delinquent than a Hero, and of someone so strict and self-disciplined that he already seemed to stand out as a leader type, both fighting about the former having his feet on his desk. Mina wasn't really paying attention to their conversation at that point, though they were loud enough that she knew the topic at hand even if she didn't particularly care for it.

Her eyes ended up catching the sliding door as the next student finally made their entrance. A quick scan over the appearance – A boy, with dark green and black hair that was curly and hung about half-way over his eyes, pale skin, and freckles scattered all over their cheeks. Something that instantly stood out was the fact that this person looked totally plain, which in this world, made someone stand out on their own.

The only distinctive feature that Mina could notice about this person was their eyes – Red like blood, contrasting against the darker colours of his hair. They almost looked like they were glowing.

Most of the rest of the room turned to focus their attention on the new arrival, which made the boy seem a bit awkward. He paused for a moment before taking another step into the room and scanning over the place, looking for a place to seat himself.

"Urgh. That guy." Kirishima muttered. His arms suddenly folded across his stomach, and his teeth gently showed themselves through the slight parting of his lips.

"You know him?" Mina looked towards the Hardening Quirk user from the corner of her eye, while keeping her focus mostly on the new arrival.

"I was in the same testing grounds as him." Said Kirishima, his eyes solely focused on the arrival. "The guy's got a… Really, really weird Quirk." He shuddered as he spoke. "Ruthless as well. He took down the zero pointer to rescue someone."

"Wow." Mina blinked. "That's impressive."

"I'd've gone with terrifying." Kirishima muttered.

The arrival wasn't really much to look at, the most defining feature again being his eyes. He honestly looked kind of scrawny, like someone who had barely been in a fight before. Looks weren't everything, Mina knew. Quirks were simply too varied to even make appearance a defining factor in the judgement of another person. A child could possess the power to tear down a building. Looks alone were nothing.

Still… "You're seriously intimidated by him? What'd he even do?"

Kirishima let out a small exhale. "When he took down the zero pointer… I don't know. It looked like he'd done it a thousand times. He didn't even flinch. He tore the thing apart in no time at all." He blinked and muttered again. "There was something about it, like he'd done it before. I mean, it was hella manly, just…" He looked unsettled. Anxious almost.

Was that boy's Quirk really that odd?

"Maybe he went to a training school?" Mina suggested casually.

"Deku?"

The room ended up being a lot quieter suddenly, although that was mostly due to the fact that the loudest person had suddenly gone much quieter. No longer was he even bothering to acknowledge the taller classmate that had been yelling his ear off about disrespecting the school property, his attention now solely focused on the new arrival. He was stood up behind his desk with his eyes open in clear surprise.

The new arrival, 'Deku', returned the look, though it was far blunter than the one the blonde had on his face. Next to no real surprise, or even a reaction at all. It was like he fully expected to see the other boy there from the moment he stepped foot onto Yuuei's campus.

"…Oh. It's you." The boy, Deku, spoke flatly, almost in a cold sense. There wasn't any emotion behind it either, which almost made it feel metallic to the ears.

Mina blinked and felt her eyes, as well as Kirishima's, and fair few others surrounding them, suddenly become entirely focused on those two. It became very clear to everyone that these two knew one another, and they hadn't been a hundred percent sure that they were going to see each other again. But they weren't friends. Not even close. Everything was far too tense for that.

There were no smiles, and they weren't happy to see each other.

Teeth were gritted. "How in the fuck did you get in here? Where in the fuck've you even been?!" Slowly, irritation and anger poured out of the blond student. Like this 'Deku', he also had red eyes, but his were less pronounced and were slightly duller. They narrowed, and those close to him seemed to be able to feel the animosity he expressed.

Was it how he had been addressed? Everyone already had the impression he had a short temper. But this seemed to be the confirmation of that.

"You control yourself and watch your mouth! It's merely the first day of – "

"Shut it, you four eyes elitist bastard! This doesn't concern you."

'Deku' just seemed to let out a short sigh, unwilling to even dignify what he was confronted by with a response. He adjusted the straps on his backpack, and then began to walk past the angry teenager, looking for the nearest empty desk to sit down in.

He wasn't able to walk past peacefully though. Before he could clear walk past him, the blond grabbed hold of his arm in what looked like a very tight grip. "Don't you fucking ignore me, Deku!"

The green haired boy didn't even seem fazed by suddenly being grabbed, but that didn't translate to him not reacting at all. For a couple of seconds, he didn't react at all, like he was waiting for the other boy to simply let go of his own accord. It didn't happen though. If anything, the grip just got tighter, along with the increasing annoyance of the spikey blond.

So 'Deku' raised his head, and looked the other boy straight in the eyes, and spoke firm as possible.

"I. Am not. In the mood. _Bakugou_."

Mina felt a shiver run down her spine. Never had she heard a name spoken so powerfully it made her hair stand on end.

It clearly had surprised the boy, his name now revealed to be Bakugou, as well. His eyes seemed to widen, and he didn't say anything in response for a moment. He looked stunned, shocked at 'Deku's flat tone. It wasn't hard to see why. There was a particular type of venom in 'Deku's words, the kind that wasn't even all that venomous at all. It was more factual and blunt, Only aggressive because he needed to be. Not out of hatred, but more out of a desire to just go about the day without dealing with this sort of drama. Yet somehow it was brutally dark and established his tone clearly.

He wanted nothing to do with Bakugou, and he wasn't going to allow him to start something.

Even though no one had heard it, they all suddenly knew that there was bad blood between the two of them. Bad blood that went far, far, far deeper than a mutual dislike. It made Mina wonder what the hell sort of past these two had together. What on earth caused that level of hostility?

He then took his arm back, ripping it away from Bakugou's grasp, and walking right past him, not looking back, and acting like nothing had ever even happened. He simply sat himself in the closest empty seat, – Which ended up being behind Bakugou – placed his bag underneath the desk and sat down. He took a moment to try to smooth out the creases on his uniform sleeve, before having a quick look around the room.

That was when he went slightly red in the face at the sight of so many people keeping their eyes firmly onto him, now more in bewilderment, amazement, or interest. He looked confused, like he didn't even know why people were looking at him.

It didn't even take half a minute before the final student had arrived and approached him. While everyone seemed to quickly go back to whatever it was that they wee doing beforehand, there simply wasn't any ignoring what had just gone down.

There wasn't any getting around it. Mina saw Kirishima's point now, even though she hadn't seen his Quirk once.

There was something odd about this guy.

* * *

It hadn't been long after that their new homeroom teacher, a scruffy looking man with ridiculously long black hair and had shown up in a sleeping bag who went by the name of Aizawa, arrived, threw them all a set of sports uniforms, and told them that instead of going through orientation, they were going to be showing off what they were capable of doing with their Quirks. A drastic change to how schools normally worked, but this was Yuuei after all. A school famous for this sort of thing.

The added threat that the one who scored the lowest would be thrown out of the school certainly had been a terrifying one, and one that had forced everyone to put their absolute all into everything that they were doing. No one wanted to be sent home on their very first day.

And at the end of it all, no one actually was. According to Aizawa, it had been some sort of logical ruse, designed to bring out the best in every student. While there was certainly a sense of logic to it, it felt like a very underhanded move, and one that kind of set the tone for the rest of the year.

Last place had gone to a kid called Mineta, who seemed to scream in thanks to whatever Gods existed when he learned that he wasn't going to be sent home. Mina had placed tenth – Not a bad position at all. Somehow, Kirishima had placed two above her at eighth.

Between them both, was 'Deku'. Or Izuku Midoriya, according to his name on the leader board.

Now that she'd seen him in action, Mina would agree with Kirishima wholeheartedly – The guys Quirk was weird.

It stuck with her all the way throughout the day, from the moment she saw it to the moment she got home. Even as she found herself resting on her bed after the surprisingly exhausting first day, she found herself questioning, wondering.

Quirks were various and unique to each individual, so of course odd ones were going to crop up from place to place. Unusual and bizarre powers like her own weren't by any means something that was out of the ordinary. There was just something about this Quirk though, about the guy himself, that just seemed… Odd. Unnatural. It was clear to everyone that saw it that he has an odd power. She had heard all the mutters and murmurs. She wasn't alone in her focus of him.

He was able to create some sort of black matter from his body which he could use as a weapon. He seemed to have some kind of degree of control over it, but not fully. It was surreal to actually watch and get a feel for. Such an odd Quirk that made barely any sense. How he operated it, and how he got such high scores on top of that was a mystery. While his Quirk might well be powerful for all she knew, it didn't seem like anything it could do was suited to the tasks that they had been given. What could that black… Stuff, even do? It didn't seem like there was anything particularly special about what he did.

It was just a weird Quirk.

When Bakugou launched himself demanding an explanation, Midoriya acted the same way anyone else would – He jumped back and got ready to defend himself, black matter from the wrist down covering his skin. Aizawa spared him having to use it by Erasing the spiky hair boys Quirk with his own and restraining him with the capture tape… Thing, that he kept around his neck like a scarf.

Midoriya was someone who wasn't going to shy away from confrontation if he needed to, but that was really all that Mina could point to and say she

Nothing except the blood red eyes, anyway.

* * *

The appearance of Ajin had changed the fundamental way that new Heroes had to be taught. One of the most fundamental laws in the world was that people were not made equal. They all had different strengths and weaknesses, and different Quirks to one another. Someone might have a weak, useless Quirk, like the power to change their skin colour, while others would be given the power to knock buildings down with a flick of their wrists.

Yet the universal truth had always been there though, and it was one that everyone faced. It was the only true equalizer on the planet.

People died.

Even as humanity evolved and developed the superpowers that would come to dominate their entire society, that single fact about the very nature of existence was the one thing that made everyone equal in the end. It was the one thing that meant that even though the power difference between two people would be enormous, that single truth would forever remain as fact for everyone involved. No matter who you were, someday, at some point, you were going to die.

But Ajin took that rule and threw it to the dogs.

Very little research had actually been successfully conducted onto Ajin. It wasn't even known if Ajin could age, or if they were an eternal being. Yet the deterrent of death didn't apply to a single one of them anymore. The only thing that was certain was that an Ajin didn't stay dead when killed. Put a bullet through one's head, and that meant that nothing – They would be back within a few seconds.

Special classes, therefore, had to be dedicated to the topic of these immortal creatures. Heroes needed to learn how to combat them, and they needed to have what little information that there was available drilled into their heads. They needed to be able to know it off by heart, so that if they ever encountered an Ajin, they would be on automatic, and lashing out in the most effective way possible.

The very first one had been more an introduction to what Ajin actually were, though it wasn't anything particularly new to anyone there.

Creatures that were human-like but were immortal and couldn't die, no matter the circumstance. Research told them that Ajin always returned to their natural form whenever they revived – So if they lost an arm, it would reattach, or grow back, but that was really all that had been confirmed. No specifics or anything new in nearly two decades, due to the sheer rarity of Ajin, and the ferocity of those who were known as immortals – Unsurprisingly, each one of them Villains. Like Humans, they possessed Quirks in addition to their immortality, which made them incredibly dangerous in a combat scenario.

Ways of fighting Ajin certainly did exist, but those were being saved until the next lesson, when the students had fully settled in, and time and proper focus could be given to the topic. Something there did seem to be a rather large amount of enthusiasm for. Anti-Ajin rhetoric certainly wasn't something that was lacking in society, least of all by the Heroes and people who had personal experience with the immortal race, for whatever reason.

Along with that, things generally calmed down too, from the heated first. Midoriya went from being someone who inadvertently managed to intimidate people into a generally kind person by most accounts. He had an awkwardness about him that was up front and centre, difficult to ignore or even get past. Mina barely spoke to the guy, but she could see clearly that he wasn't the mysterious figure she had been given the impression of.

He was willing to stand up for himself, and it was possible that he was a lot more adept with his fighting abilities than one would normally suspect from just looking at him. But he wasn't some brooding figure. From classes, he seemed to be fairly intelligent, and kept to himself most of the time. He had his own group of friends, and it didn't even take a day until Mina had more or less forgotten about all the drama surrounding him.

A week went by without much of an incident. People talked, got to know one another, and got to work on their studies. Sometimes it felt like nothing had really changed from actually being in middle school, aside from a fresh set of faces and a new uniform. The atmosphere was a bit more serious, but also somehow felt more light-hearted at the same time. They were the students who made it, out of all the candidates in the country. Only one of every three hundred applicants got in – That meant they were ones out of twenty-one- _thousand._ They had earned the right to be proud.

And they were proud. Mina was certainly proud of herself. She had put in so much work into getting into Yuuei. She'd never read as many books before in her entire life, or pushed her Quirk to the absolute breaking point. And she'd done it. Here she was, in the school where all of the best Heroes were trained.

About the begin her first Hero exercise.

She took a look at her Hero Costume, and gently flicked the puffy fur that went around her collar. It was the first time that she'd ever laid eyes on it, not to mention worn the thing. It was designed to be comfy as it was designed to take her Quirk into consideration. Boots that would let her eject Acid from the soles of her feet, so she could slide around, acid-proof materials, and enough room for movement and flexibility to allow her to stretch and bend however she needed to in order to fight. Her face mask wasn't going to do a damn thing for hiding her identity and she knew it – She just thought it looked cool.

Everyone looked pretty cool to be fair. There were some awesome costumes. Some people really went full hog on the designs, like Bakugou, or they would opt for something far simpler, like the guy with the electric Quirk. Some people, Mina couldn't even tell who was who. A few made efforts to colour their faces, though the vast majority of people didn't. With mutations and Quirks in the public eye, hiding one's identity was often a fairly fruitless task. Some seemed to want to anyway though, perhaps just for the aesthetic of it.

"Very cool!" All Might had praised everyone's choices before he began to go over the plan for their first session of Heroic training. Hearing that they were to be trained by one of the number one Heroes in the entire country had to be one of the biggest and most incredible surprises that anyone had heard. They were really going to get a top tier education.

A two on two team battle. It was direct, straight to the point, and it was clear All Might wasn't messing around. He was going to throw them into the deep end and make them learn either to swim, or they'd end up drowning.

"This training will have two different groups!" The large, muscular Hero declared. "A Hero team and a Villain team! The 'Villain' team will be guarding a weapon which they plan on deploying, and the Heroes task will be to capture the Villains or their device before they can weaponize it!" It sounded like something straight out of a comic book or Video game. "If the Heroes capture the Villains, or the device, then the Heroes are victorious! If the Villains prevent them from doing so, then the Villain team shall win!"

"So, how are we going to be selecting our teams?" Asked a black-haired student, with her arm upraised as she asked her question.

"By random roulette."

The sudden, bored sounding, dull voice of their homeroom teacher, suddenly appearing from the side and walking towards the front of the class, next to All Might, caught everyone's attention. Aizawa scratched the back of his long, scruffy hair as he made his way up to the front. He looked exhausted, as he always did.

Several of the students began to mutter in and amongst themselves.

"What's Aizawa-sensei doing here?"

"I dunno. I thought that this was supposed to be All Might's session."

"Is Aizawa-sensei even a combat instructor?"

"How would I know? I thought he was just the homeroom teacher."

"Aizawa. This is unexpected." All Might didn't drop his smile the entire time, like he never did, but the tone of his voice was noticeably deeper. "I wasn't told you'd be at my session to assist me."

"The brass wanted me down here." Aizawa said in response. "Situational. They want my eye on things."

That seemed to be enough for All Might. He seemed to pause for a moment, before nodding his head. "Understood. Go right ahead."

The Erasure Hero turned his full attention to the students and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Due to more recent developments regarding increased Ajin and Villain attacks, I've bene asked to supervise your Hero training along with All Might. I'm about as happy as this as you are." Whether or not he was talking to All Might or the students was unclear. He pulled from his pocket a small device, similar to the one that he used to deliver the scores for his Quirk Apprehension test. "This set up is completely random, and we'll be testing your ability to work with people and Quirks that you might not chose under optimal circumstances. It's rare that you'll get to fight against opponents with people who you work best with, especially on patrols, so fundamental team-building skills is logical skill to develop immediately."

It made a lot of sense when put like that, Mina thought. Random teams had initially left her with a bit of an uneasy feeling, but when explained like that, she couldn't help but agree with what was being said. She took a quick scan around, wondering who she would end up being partnered with. There wasn't anyone in particular she had a preference for teaming up with. The only real preference she had was someone who was capable, who she wouldn't have to carry. Though given her classmates and their Quirks, that probably wasn't going to be an issue.

"Slow down, Aizawa." All Might suddenly seemed like a small part of the session. "I already have these slot selections ready to – "

"This is faster." The more experienced teacher cut off the older man. "Our curriculum has had to be changed to help train you for the growing Ajin presence." Aizawa added on. "Villains and Ajin seem to be on the rise lately, so it's important that you have the proper training. The main reason I'm here now is to see where you're all at from a combat perspective – That will help us plan lessons accordingly."

The automated process began, and names spun into place, putting people into pairs, with an image of their face next to their name for finding each other faster. Quickly, she located her name, and with it, her teammate.

She was in Team D – Herself, and Katsuki Bakugou. The volatile guy with the explosive Quirk she recognized from the first day.

Mina blinked, and then looked towards her apparent teammate. He barely glanced at her as he kept on scowling at the automated systems, waiting for whatever came next.

"Oh, yay." She muttered to herself quietly. Of course she had gotten… Probably the most aggressive person in the entire class as her partner. Wonderful. Although, there couldn't be any denying that he was a ridiculously strong thanks to the Apprehension test, and his Quirk seemed versatile and powerful, so it could certainly be worse. And in fairness to him, Mina had no idea what the situation was between him and Midoriya. Based on how he acted, she had just assumed that he was the bad guy. For all she knew, he was rightfully angry at his old… Acquaintance? "So… I guess you're with me?"

"Just stay out of my fucking way."

She sighed. Honestly, she didn't know what she had expected. What you saw seemed to be what you got with this guy. This was going to be… Interesting.

As soon as everyone got into their teams, Aizawa hit the button again. "Now that you have your teams, you'll be paired against…."

The process stopped. And Mina glanced at who she was fighting.

Team D vs Team A – Izuku Midoriya and Tenya Iida

* * *

 **I know it's pretty canon compliant right now, but this whole thing is pretty much the only canon battle that'll happen like this. The rest I have interesting spins on. The reason I put Iida with Izuku is simple – It's a different selection process, so the teams would be different. The odds of them all being in the same teams, bar one switch around is incredibly slim. Plus – It makes this more fun.**

 **Not a lot of dialogue this chapter – But I don't know if a lot would have honestly been of any benefit to the situations present.**

 **Now, I know a lot of you will want to know why I cut the original chapter 2 – The reason is this – Kirishima was a god damn pain to add into things. I've made my opinion that the flashbacks in the Overhaul arc were crammed in for absolutely no reason and ruin a huge amount of the arc and Kirishima as a character (The light Novels were** _ **not**_ **kind to him), and it's never been clearer than when I tried to put him into IH in a way that makes any sort of sense.**

 **I wanted to have him as part of the Izuku-Mina-Kirishima trio (Which is better than Izuku-Uraraka-Iida, fight me.) but he just didn't fit in anywhere. Everything felt off, and weird, and he acted unnaturally. And I got the idea for a mostly Mina-focused narrative, so I made the call to delete that chapter and replace it with this one. An odd call, I know, but it's one that I made because I think it will relay benefit the story – As those of you who haven't watched Ajin will learn more about what Ajin are as Mina learns about them**

 **This story is in a weird place – While I like it, and want to carry on, everything else take priority. I have been working hard as hell to get this chapter ready for today, and it'd been a hell of a struggle. Its been interesting and fun though. I think the calls I made will honestly be for the best in the long run.**

 **I got so much support on this story and it's been pretty damn amazing to see – I had so many ideas I wanna get out, and I will do with this story, I promise that.**

 **I do hope you enjoyed, and I'll try my hardest to make sure the wait for the next one isn't as long as last time. Until then guys – I hope you enjoyed, and ill see you all later – See you!**


	3. Unclear

Something was wrong.

Over the last few years, Izuku had learned when to realize this. When something wasn't going the way that it had been planned out, when something had come up that had changed the course of plans. He'd learned to notice behavioural changed, the ways that people acted, and how the pacing of a topic changed as it deviated from its pre-plotted course.

Aizawa hadn't meant to be involved in this session from the start. He'd admitted as much to the class when he joined, but what stood out the most to Izuku was how he had changed the method of preparation for students to be paired up with and against one another. His reasoning that it was faster made sense, but did it matter so much as long as the teams were decided? In the end, what difference would it make?

It wasn't like they were on any sort of lime limit. It saved them, what, five minutes?

The Erasure Hero would likely say that it was because time was a luxury that future Heroes didn't have to waste, but…

No. There was something else going on here. Even the Erasure Hero wasn't going to be that much of a stickler for time. As long as they started the exercise in due time, he shouldn't care.

It wasn't even a question as to what it was, or where the sudden appearance of Aizawa had come from. Even since the first day, he'd known that his homeroom teacher was watching him.

Even since the Quirk Apprehension test…

He shook his head. He had to worry about that later.

Pulling the black bandana that he used to cover his hose and over his cheeks, he looked around the starting point. His costume didn't do an enormous amount to protect him from wind chill, but he wasn't too bothered by it. His costume had been designed so that it wouldn't give anything away if he had any injuries – Tears in the fabric of his clothes without wounds would just make him look suspicious.

His costume consisted of a sleeveless vest that left about half of his chest exposed, along with a set of tracksuit bottoms that encased his legs. Both were a dark green colour in origins, borderline black. The bandanna that he wore was an actual shade of black. Along the sides of his vest, two green vertical lines ran the entire length of the fabric. The same was the case on his tracksuits, both on the inseam, outside, and along the front, so his knees were covered by green material. The shins were padded. His boots were steel tipped, useful for if he needed to start throwing kicks in close quarters combat. The only really colourful thing about his costume was the fact he retained his red boots. Sentiment.

It wasn't a particularly creative or flashy costume, but it didn't need to be. Practicality was the main thing that Izuku had been thinking of.

"Midoriya?" Iida spoke to him, glancing at his partner. It was the first time Izuku had actually noticed him talking. Had he been speaking this whole time?

"S - Sorry." Izuku apologized quickly and awkwardly. "I was… In my own head for a minute there. What was that, Iida?"

The Engine Quirk user seemed to narrow his eyes, though he decided not to ask what had caught his teammates attention. "I was curious as to if you had any sort of plan or strategy or ideas for the exercise."

Looking up at the building in front of them, Izuku thought about what he could expect. Yuuei certainly had some impressive facilities when it came to training people to become Heroes. It was practically a skyscraper. The floor plan indicated that it wasn't just put together willy-nilly either. There had been thought gone into it. To help replicate the actual feel of a building that they would need to fight in someday. The 'Villains' would be on the top floor, so the 'Heroes' would be at a disadvantage. Less time to get there, and they would be on the enemy's territory. Their enemies were expecting an attack. They would be more prone to ambush and would have to break their opponents' defenses.

Then there was the matter of their opponents and their Quirks. "I don't suppose you know what… Ash - I… That pink girl's Quirk is?" Izuku asked, now turning back towards Iida, slowly pronouncing each of the segments of the girl's name that he could remember. "I didn't really get what her power was from the Apprehension Exam."

"I don't believe it was ever mentioned."

"Right… That makes things more difficult then." The green haired boy bit his lower lip at the building, thinking about what options were open to him. "To me it looked like some sort of sliding or erosion Quirk. I only saw it on the fifty-meter dash, so It's hard to say… I know Bakugou's Explosion Quirk would normally make it difficult to handle him head on… But my power is fairly versatile."

"Forgive me, but you and Bakugou have a history, do you not?"

It wasn't really much of a question. Every since their stand off on the very first day, everyone had put the pieces together and guessed that they had known one another prior to entering Yuuei. Izuku hadn't ever spoken about it though, and nor had Bakugou. Bakugou's silence was strictly to do with his pride refusing to allow him to disclose what had happened.

For Izuku, it was a matter of importance that he retain his secrecy. For his own safety.

"We knew each other. And I understand his Quirk and the way that he thinks." There wasn't any reason to give out more than that. "I can deal with him."

"Should I combat Ashido then?"

"Ashido." Izuku snapped his fingers and vocally repeated, trying to commit the name to memory. He then took a moment to consider. While he was at a disadvantage because he didn't know what her Quirk was, he was confident that he would quickly figure out exactly what it was that she was capable of doing. Once he understood, he would be able to plan some sort of far more creative counter-strategy against her without much of an issue.

So he could fight Bakugou, and once he learned what Ashido could do, he could take her on as well.

A small grin appeared on his lips, as a plan of attack began to form within his head. "…How fast do you think you can run, Iida?"

X

For maybe the third time now, Mina gently kicked the side of the 'bomb' that she and her teammate had been assigned to protect. She had heard the comparison to the plot of old golden age of comic Villains by one of her classmates, but it was suddenly so accurate that it was borderline cringe-worthy. Though it would make for an interesting training exercise. If nothing else at all.

The goal was just to defend this thing for ten minutes, wasn't it? That didn't seem too difficult. She took a glance towards Bakugou, whom just seemed to be glaring towards the nearest corridor angrily since they got there.

Teamwork clearly wasn't one of his strong point. He had a powerful Quirk, sure, but between the two of their powers, she couldn't help but realize that they didn't really have the capacity to set up traps or defenses like some of the other classmates they had might be able to. They'd just have to fight it one in a head on brawl.

With powers like theirs, they would be able to make their enemies give them a wide birth, but that was it.

"So…" She muttered, gently kicking the 'bomb' once again. "I'm gonna guess you have about as many ideas about defending this thing as I do."

No response.

"Yeah, I didn't think so." She let out a small sigh. Seriously? Of all the people she could have gotten as a partner, she had ended up with the guy who communicated via explosions more than words, or just didn't speak.

Somehow, she didn't exactly rate their chances at victory as being too high. If they didn't communicate, what were they supposed to do?

Yet, she couldn't actually keep the smile off of her face.

There was something absolutely thrilling about the anticipation for what was going to be a tough fight, without any sort of question whatsoever. She knew for a fact that there was going to be a struggle – Midoriya and Iida were recognized as being two students whom seemed to have some of the most flare thanks to their Quirks. And this was what she had been spending the last few years of her life aiming for. Attending this Hero school. Becoming a Hero.

And that moment was here. Finally.

Math, English, Science, whatever – They could all go out the window. _This_ , this was what she had come to Yuuei to do, even if the other subjects she hated would be twenty times harder in exchange. A trade she was happy to make.

She was looking forward to this.

"So," Bakugou spoke for the first time since they had gotten there. Mina's head automatically turned to the only other source of sound in the room and tilted her head slightly. "Deku's got a Quirk after all, huh?"

Mina blinked. "What's 'After all' supposed to mean?"

No answer. She just sighed.

"Talk to a brick wall…" She muttered underneath her breath, before speaking up again. "He's got that… Black particle… Thing, right? He scored pretty high on the Quirk examination." She paused. "Okay, I've gotta ask – What's your beef with Midoriya anyway? I've never seen the guy do anything to anyone."

"Fucker never showed off his Quirk..." It sounded more like a growl that was under his breath, not directed to Mina in any way. She could have sworn that she saw sparks flying off his palms. "You tryin' to make a fuckin fool out of me, Deku?!..."

There still wasn't much to go on regarding both Bakugou and Midoriya. They had made strong impressions on the rest of their classmates, but that impression was virtually all most of them had.

Midoriya seemed to spend a bit of time with a couple of other classmates, but that seemed to be about where it ended. There was just really nothing that any of them knew about the two of them, or where their disagreements had begun. Trying to figure the two of them out was impossible.

The only thing Mina could even guess was that they hadn't seen one another for a while. Bakugou seemed almost surprised at Midoriya's mere existence, so something had to be going on there.

Something that Mina wasn't sure she really wanted to get involved with. Given her teammate though, she didn't have much choice right now. "You uh… You think you can put your grudge or whatever aside while we do this thing?"

"What the fuck does his Quirk even do?" The pink girl let her eyebrows raise as her partner seemed to ask a question that actually seemed somewhat productive to their situation. Aside from the fact that it let him create the aforementioned black particle things, what exactly he could use them for was rather ambiguous. He seemed able to manipulate them, but that seemed to be the only thing he could do.

As far as anyone had seen, anyway.

It didn't seem likely that he was going to show off all of the capabilities of his Quirk during an Apprehension test. He could have special moves, or his Quirk could have other functions despite what little had been seen of his unusual power.

That was where all this uncertainty came from. From just the feel of the Quirk. Just watching it in action. Witnessing it being used. The best way to describe it was… Unnatural.

It felt like an unnatural Quirk.

"I guess our best odds against a Quirk we know nothing about would be if we fought the guy together." Mina suggested. Strength in numbers never seemed to be a bad strategy when it came to a fight. Especially when the enemy had a Quirk that was unknown or unpredictable.

"I don't need your fucking help to put Deku in his place."

"Well what are we supposed to – "

Mina didn't even get her full question out before Bakugou straight up started to walk away from her, headed down the nearest corridor without a word. Not a glance over his shoulder, not a single word, not even a single sign that he planned to acknowledge his partner in any way.

She caught the smallest glimpse of white from his cheeks. His fangs, from a tooth baring grin.

"…Stick together." Mina finished her sentence to no one in particular with a sigh.

As she exhaled, she suddenly realized that she was now presented with a choice, neither one leading to any particularly good outcomes. She could either stay where she was, and defend the target, alone, with back up against opponents she doubted she could handle on her own, or she could follow Bakugou, leaving the target totally undefended, yet presenting them both with an opportunity to catch their opponents off guard, and maybe eliminate them by taking the initiative.

Neither were really good options. In either case, the target was going to be tragically undefended, but then again, what could either of them do to plan a trap of any kind with their Quirks? A head on fight was their only real way of protecting their objective. An ambush might work…

An academic and strategic genius, Mina wasn't, but she anyone with sense would know the attacking team would know an ambush was coming the closer they got to the target. So, attacking early on would give them the element of surprise.

But that would leave the target defenseless, with no one to even make an effort to stop it. Assuming that they got through them, they might as well have surrendered right there and then.

Somehow though, Mina didn't put her odds at defending this thing on her own too highly. As much as she didn't think that it was such a good idea, she got onto her feet, and followed Bakugou.

If they were going to do this, they might as well have a plan.

* * *

The building that they were in had ten floors, the 'bomb' being on the top floor. It was designed to give the Villain team the best chance for setting up traps on various corridors and stairways if they were quick enough. Of course, that all depended on having a Quirk that was capable of letting one lay out traps like that.

Since neither Mina nor Bakugou had Quirks like that, a confrontation was the only advantage they had. The third floor had been chosen since it only had one way up – One of three floors to do so, along with five and eight – and neither of their opponents had come from that direction yet.

This far down, it gave them the maximum chances for surprise in their favour. On the way there, Mina had – After quite a fair bit of coaxing – Managed to convince Bakugou to use some sort of plan. She got the feeling that he was rather uneasy about the plan she suggested though, almost like he was debating internally if he wanted to go through with it. She had no idea if that was his pride talking, or if it was because he thought the plan would fail.

It would give them the first strike, if everything went well, at the very least.

All she had to do was wait for them to show up.

She didn't need to wait too long either.

The sounds of the footsteps came before they came into view. Two pairs of footsteps around the corner of a five-meter-long corridor. All Mina could do was hold her breath and wait for her opponents to come into view.

"Midoriya, have you spotted anything?"

"No, I don't – "

That was the moment that Midoriya turned the corner, and came into Mina's line of sight.

Both of them looked at one another, and for what felt like a solid minute, that was all they did. Their eyes met, and Midoriya cut off his sentence as he and Mina saw one another. There wasn't any movement at all. Red and gold eyes collided with one another.

Clearly, Midoriya had been caught by surprise. They weren't even halfway through the building, and here was one of his opponents – Not laying in wait in a strategic position, not hiding, and not even in stance like she was ready for a fight. She was just there, almost like she was just lost in this building and way trying to find the way to her post.

They both blinked at one another. Without a word.

"…Nevermind. There's one here." Midoriya finally and flatly stated, before allowing his eyes to narrow. His hands balled into fists.

He was prepared to fight.

It had come around like the flip of a switch. A calm persona, transformed immediately into someone who looked like he was trained to kill on command. And yet there wasn't a whole lot of emotion in it either. No anger nor fury. Just someone who was ready to fight, like it was automatic and instinctive.

Even as Iida approached his green-haired partner and stood by his side, Mina and Midoriya didn't look away from one another. Mina couldn't. She had this feeling that if she did, he would strike, and take advantage of the momentary distraction. She couldn't let herself take her eyes off of him.

Not yet.

"…The target is on the top floor, right, Iida?" Midoriya questioned. His voice was low, and quiet.

"Correct." His voice was muffled due to being in full armour, but what he said was clear.

Midoriya nodded in acknowledgement. He took a step forward, and pulled down the bandana from around his face, exposing his nose and mouth. "You're far from your objective, aren't you?"

Mina didn't say anything.

Another step forward. "Rushing to pick a fight… Hm. I can't say I know you…. Well, at all, but… This is a Bakugou tactic more than anything."

Was he talking to her, or to himself? Mina somehow got the feeling he was less talking to her, and more at her. Like someone observing an archaeological site, asking the remains there what secrets they held. And it was equally as creepy there as it was here.

There was just this disturbing, dark feeling about the red-eyed boy in front of her that Mina found herself unable to shake. Something about the way he composed himself, the calm way he was walking towards her. How quickly he got over his initial shock, and the way he spoke to her, yet no one at the same time.

Without realizing it, she had been holding her breath. She heard her heartbeat hit her chest, and ring in her ears. She stood her ground though.

Surely, he just needed a few more seconds.

As soon as that thought went into her head though, he struck.

With Midoriya distracted, Bakugou had flung himself down the nearby corridor and towards the green-haired opponent with as much force as his Explosion Quirk allowed him to muster. His left hand was thrown behind him, generating blast after blast to pick up momentum, while his right arm swung, aiming right for the back of his target's head, ready to unleash an enormous blast.

It had been the plan from the start – Mina was the distraction, to keep both Midoriya and Iida focusing on her, while Bakugou attempted to knock out one of the two of them with a powerful blast with his Quirk. Knocking one of them out, or at least injuring them at the start would give them a huge advantage.

Iida had been closer, but Bakugou had made Midoriya his target. Somehow, Mina predicted that that would be the case, but she certainly didn't have it in her to complain in any way at all. Of the two of them, Midoriya certainly seemed like the most dangerous, and knocking him out early was an absolute win as far as she was concerned.

The execution of the plan had been an absolute success.

But the result certainly hadn't been.

If Midoriya's Quirk activated automatically, that was just another oddity in his power that seemed to make it spring into the eyes of those who saw it even more. If he activated it on his own, it meant that he had just allowed them to make their attempt, and fail, to what end, she didn't know.

Either way, the second the explosion began to form inside Bakugou's palm, the black mater erupted from Midoriya's head and neck, and generated a dampening field for the blast. Most, if not all of the shock was contained within the black matter that he generated. The crackling and scratching of the matter filled the corridor, somehow feeling even more powerful than the sound of the blast.

And Midoriya didn't even move a muscle whatsoever. He didn't turn his head. His expression didn't change. He didn't even move his eyes to glance behind him.

He didn't move at all.

The explosion was swallowed by the matter, and that was all. There wasn't any counter attack towards Bakugou whilst he was still in the middle of the air. No attempt to strike him down right now. Nothing of the sorts. Midoriya just allowed his opponent to witness the defence he had made, and then waited to see what came next.

With the initial momentum his strike gave him, Bakugou had added on an additional blast within his left hand, using it to throw himself over Midoriya, and land next to his partner. The grin on his face was eradicated the moment he realized his attack had had less than no effect on his enemy.

Instead, it became a frown, followed by a glare. "So that's what you were hiding from me?!"

"I didn't hide anything from you." Midoriya's response was calm still. After being attacked the way that he had, one would have suspected yelling. Shouting. Some sort of clear emotion in his voice.

But there was none, and that was what made him all the more unsettling.

"You hid your fucking Quirk from me all this time!" Bakugou was the more emotional one, by a country mile. He sounded insulted, like he'd been personally offended by all of this. Like this had all been a personal assault against him, specifically.

To this, Midoriya said nothing.

"Did you have fun?!" Bakugou roared. "Did you enjoy looking down on me, Deku?!"

Nothing.

"Midoriya?" Even his partner sounded unsettled by the sheer ferocity that their enemy was throwing his words. He wanted to know whatever the situation was supposed to be. An explanation for these clearly personal hostilities.

And still, nothing.

There was something dull though. Something that Mina couldn't help but notice. Perhaps it was because of the way Midoriya's red eyes seemed to glow and bring attention to themselves. Perhaps it was because of all the focus that was on him. Or perhaps it was because of some other reason. Why didn't matter.

His expression, the way his eyes were, his posture. The way he held himself, and the way that he seemed to respond to this entire situation. Not with much urgency, nor particular care.

 _Did_ he even care?

All his actions and words seemed to suggest that he didn't, yet here he was. Still aiming to become a Hero. His mere presence alone was enough to suggest he cared. At least enough.

Detonations flashed repeatedly within Bakugou's palms, punctuating his fury with every vowel. "Say something you bastard!"

"Yell all you like."

There was finally some sort of emotion when Midoriya finally did speak, though it was an odd mixture of seeming apprehension and resentment. It was a bizarre mixture of two varying emotions that somehow amounted to meaning something she couldn't explain.

It also seemed Bakugou had bitten his tongue once enemy spoke. His fingers were still curled and ready to unleash detonations in seconds.

Midoriya's gaze fell towards the ground. "It won't affect me. I've been through a lot since I last saw you, Bakugou. You honestly think I'm still afraid of you?"

"You fuck off for _two fucking years_ , and then show up here acting like you're hot shit?!" A detonation once mare erupted form Bakugou's palms. His glare now could burn a hole right through someone's skull if he were given enough time. "You think this fucking mysterious Deku act intimidates me?!"

"What the hell is wrong with these two?" Mina couldn't even stop herself from muttering it underneath her breath. She didn't even have the words for anything else at all.

"You think I'm fucking afraid of you?!"

For a few moments, there wasn't any noise, finally. Midoriya didn't immediately respond, instead just standing there, and taking in what had jut been shouted at him.

He'd heard it before. Time and time again.

Bakugou hadn't changed much.

A smirk placed itself on his lips.

"No… I don't…"

And the crackling and skritching of the black matter he made began to fill the corridor once again. His Quirk generating an intense amount of the matter, primarily focused around both his back, and around his hands. Forming itself around his fingers and palms like refined claws, gloves for hand-to-hand combat.

But what was terrifying was what appeared behind him.

What came from behind him seemed to be made of the black matter. Or it inhabited that matter. Mina didn't know what she was seeing, other than the fact that she finally understood what Kirishima was talking about when he said Midoriya's Quirk was weird and unsettling.

It was wrapped up in what looked like bandages. No facial features on display whatsoever – In fact, it didn't even seem to have a face. Just a blank smooth surface that was were the face was supposed to be. It was lanky and tall – Towering above Midoriya by at least a full foot. Its claws were sharp, like the same way Midoriya's were now.

A demon. A ghost… Something. Something Midoriya made. Something he commanded.

Another component of an already horrific Quirk.

His red eyes peered through the gaps of his hair, and his smile increased.

"…But I think you should be."

* * *

 **This story honestly takes the back-burner a lot since I work on way too much, but I honestly love to plan out the story, and love working on it, even though it isn't always a priority. Ajin is my favourite manga next to MHA, and I'm doing my best with it. The story here means a lot to me and I want it to be done as well as I can manage. It's a short chapter, but I hope that you enjoyed it.**

 **Izuku is a lot darker in this series, but I'm trying to make him still be the same kid. Just… Lots has happened to this poor bastard. You'll see in time.**

 **If you enjoy the work that I do and want to support me, I have a Pat Reon and a Ko – Fi account each, both under the name QuirkQuartz. Support is highly appreciated, but is absolutely by no means required – Being here to read this is appreciated enough.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you next time – See ya!**


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